Millburn Parents Can Petition for School Days Off

The Millburn Board of Education has approved a petition and ballot process to identify days to be considered for closing schools during the 2015-16 year.

The petition and information about the process can be found on the district’s website.

To request a specific day of personal observance be added to the Millburn school calendar a petition must be submitted to the board with 500 or more valid signatures of voting-age Millburn residents on or before Sept. 30.

A petition must be submitted for each day the petitioner requests (for example “Yom Kippur” or “the first day of Diwali” or “Good Friday”). If a petitioner seeks to have more than one day of a given holiday off (both days of Rosh Hashanah, for example) then there must be two separate and distinct petitions created and submitted. Any days identified on New Jersey’s list of approved school holidays (www.state.nj.us/education/genfo/holidays1415.htm) for religious or personal observance can be submitted for consideration.

Each petition shall have one identified “Petition Leader” who, at his or her request only, will provide their name and contact information to the school district so as to avoid duplicate petition efforts. This will enable the district to provide residents with contact information for the leader of the petitions they may wish to sign.

All petitions must be submitted in hard copy to Nancy Dries at the Education Center at 434 Millburn Ave. on or before Sept. 30. Petitions will be reviewed and validated upon receipt. Confirmation of the validation will be provided to the identified Petition Leader no later than Oct. 10.

Once petitions have been approved and validated, the list of Days of Personal Observance to be voted on by school district families will be posted on the district website.

An online ballot including all days that have been approved through the petition process will be sent to all Millburn families with children currently enrolled in a Millburn public school on Oct. 14. The online ballot will close to voting on Nov. 11. Families will be asked to identify the days they would take their children out of school for a day of personal observance. If the results of the ballot demonstrate that the percentage of anticipated student absences on a specified day is expected to exceed 15 percent the Board of Education and Administration will take this outcome into consideration when creating the school calendar. The school district’s teachers will also be polled to determine anticipated days of teacher absence due to personal observance.

As per current New Jersey State Statue, Code and case law, the final school calendar is the sole responsibility of the Board of Education. The process described above is for data gathering purposes and will be used to guide decision-making in construction of the school calendar.

Questions regarding the petition process may be directed to school district Communications Coordinator Nancy Dries at nancy.dries@millburn.org or 973-376-3600, x163.

Petition: www.edline.net/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/3835100260789951602/PersonalObservance/Petition

Petition Guidelines:
www.edline.net/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/3835100260789951602/PersonalObservance/Petition_Guidelines

Process Overview: www.edline.net/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/3835100260789951602/PersonalObservance/Days_of_Personal_Observance_Ov

Q & A: www.edline.net/pages/Millburn_Township_PS/3835100260789951602/PersonalObservance/Q_A